TERRAFORMING TERRA
We discuss and comment on the role agriculture will play in the containment of the CO2 problem and address protocols for terraforming the planet Earth.
A model farm template is imagined as the central methodology. A broad range of timely science news and other topics of interest are commented on.

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Taking on Global Drought using Oranges and Avocados.

This tech needs to be integrated with drip irrigation. Then you create a local stable wet spot that surrounding plants can draw water from and even transport that water throughout the root system itself. all this remains well covered discouraging any evaporate water losses.

Recall those holes in tropical Sahel. Adding bio char retains nutrients while this system of drip irrigation retention provides a useful wet spot allowing the plant to become large enough to break up the soil.

Better yet is that there must be plenty of other potential feed stocks as well. The process used is easily adapted anywhere. A pot to boil out pectin is easy and actually drying can be done by actually spreading it all over a flat of packed soil. the sun and soil heat will quickly prepare the material and simple rollers will crush the material. Brooming it all together will include ample dust which may well be best practice anyway. It makes it much easier to handle.

This science fair winner is taking on global drought using oranges and avocados.

This
is a part of a special Upworthy series about going beyond the classroom
to make the world a better place, made possible by UCLA. Read more.

Who ever thought you could fight the effects of drought just by mixing fruits together?

A 16-year-old from Johannesburg, that's who!

Science whiz Kiara Nirghin, a grade 11 student at St.
Martin's School in Johannesburg, came up with an idea that could make a
big difference in drought-stricken regions.

"Currently, South
Africa is experiencing one of the worst droughts in its history," said
Nirghin. "I started looking at it, and not only is it affecting my
community, it's a worldwide problem. From there, I started looking at,
'OK. What could I do to lessen the impact that the drought had on South
Africa's food supply?' — which is one of the main things that it is
affecting."

With temperatures rising to blistering levels and South Africa declaring a state of disaster due to drought in eight provinces, Nirghin's game-changing invention couldn't have come at a better time.Using orange peels and avocado skins, Nirghin created her ownsuperabsorbent polymer (SAP) to nourish crops in desperate need of water.An SAP is a powder-like material that can take in large amounts
of liquid without taking up a lot of space. In fact, it's known to
absorb hundreds of times its own weight.
SAPs are planted alongside crops to create mini reservoirs of water
that keep soil moist longer and allow growing plants to survive with
less rainfall or water.

According to Science Direct,
the problem with many SAPs is they're made from some pretty harsh
chemicals that can harm people as well as the environment. So Nirghin
set out to create a more natural, biodegradable alternative.

"I
started looking at what characterized a superabsorbent polymer and how I
could emulate that characterization," she said. "And one of those
things were the polysaccharide found in orange peels."

Nirghin breaks down her process in a video for the Google Science Fair.
First, she boiled the orange peels to extract pectin (more typically
used as a gelling agent in jams and jellies). She then combined the
pectin with sun-dried orange peels, baked the mixture, crushed it into a
powder, and added more sun-dried orange peels and avocado skins.

Not only is Nirghin's SAP biodegradable, it's also affordable — and creating it produces less pollution than regular SAPs.

"[Commercial
SAPs are] not biodegradable and they’re extremely costly," said
Nirghin. "And one of the important aspects that’s often overlooked is
that the making of the superabsorbent polymers pollutes the environment.
… The production is not only timely, it’s very difficult to reproduce
in poorer areas … So I looked at basically minimizing all those negative
aspects."

In Nirghin's research paper,
she estimates her SAP would cost about $30 to $60 per metric ton to
mass produce — whereas current commercial SAPs can go for a staggering
$2,000 to $3,000 per metric ton. Even better? Nirghin found her method to be more effective at retaining water than commercial SAPs.

Nirghin
now has her sights set on getting her SAP in as many hands as possible
and affecting more positive change around the world.

"I would love for it to go into actual farms out there,"
Nirghin said. "I want it to actually be supplied to farmers all over the
world that are currently experiencing a drought. I don’t want to keep
it as an idea that I just came up with … I would really like for it to
go out and help people out there."

On top of her Google Science Fair victory, Nirghin's invention also garnered her a spot on Time's 30 Most Influential Teens of 2016
— an honor that could help her spread even more good. For starters,
she's already looking to expand her SAP to test water filtration as well
as oil removal from water.

Nirghin also has an inspiring message for anyone looking to follow in her footsteps.

Nirghin (third from left) and her fellow finalists. Photo by the Nirghin family, used with permission.

This magical button delivers Upworthy stories to you on Facebook:

She
said, "One of the main things is looking at what your community is
facing because it's great coming up with an idea, but unless it impacts
your community and makes it better — like the Google Science Fair says,
'What will you make better?' — that should be one of the main driving
forces to lessen the impact of the problems of your community."

From
there, just think of that idea as a freshly planted crop. With a little
nourishment and attention, it can grow into something even stronger and
more essential than you ever imagined.

No comments:

About Me

18 years old, having cleaned out my HS library, I concluded the only ambition worth having was becoming a great genius. An inner voice cheered. Yet it is my path I have shared much to the Human Gesalt. Mar 2017 - 4.56 Mil Pg Views, March 2013 - Posted my paper introducing CLOUD COSMOLOGY & NEUTRAL NEUTRINO described as the SPACE TIME PENDULUM. Sep 2010 -My essay titled A NEW METRIC WITH APPLICATIONS TO PHYSICS AND SOLVING CERTAIN HIGHER ORDERED DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS has been published in Physics Essays(AIP) June 2010 quarterly. 40 years ago I took an honors degree in applied mathematics from the University of Waterloo. My interest was Relativity and my last year there saw me complete a 900 level course under Hanno Rund on his work in Relativity. I continued researching new ideas and knowledge since that time and I have prepared a book for publication titled Paradigms Shift. I maintain my blog as a day book and research tool to retain data, record impressions, interpretations and to introduce new insights to readers.